Convertible swingable chair

ABSTRACT

A swingable type chair is made from arcuate sections which are releasably united to be adjustable to a multiplicity of angular positions from the one for sitting and swinging. The sections are hung on aligned pivots supported on pedestals at each side of a circular or oval base so as to be oscillatable to swing back and forth on the pivots. The chair can be changed from a normal seating configuration to a reclining configuration and to an elongated bed-type configuration.

United States Patent [191 Black July 29, 1975 CONVERTIBLE SWINGABLECHAIR [76] lnventor: John 0. Black, 18094 Parkside,

Detroit, Mich. 48221 [22] Filed: May 1, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 465,834

[52] US. Cl. 297/353; 297/118; 297/313;

297/445 [51] Int. Cl. A47C 3/00 [58] Field of Search 297/445, 118, 311,68,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 463,863 ll/l89l Johnson297/282 X 817,816 4/1906 Stevens 297/68 825,984 7/1906 Schmersahl...297/282 X 830,487 9/1906 Backe et a1... 297/282 X 2,931,640 4/1960Riddle, Jr. 297/380 X 3,062,583 11/1962 Hamilton 297/254 X 3,069,20412/1962 Vesterholt et a1. 297/D1G. 2 3,379,472 4/1968 Hilfiker 297/1183,469,882 9/1969 Larsen 297/118 3,558,094 1/1971 Radke et al 248/3723,727,974 4/1973 Swenson et al 248/372 Primary ExaminerJames T. McCallAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Harness, Dickey & Pierce [5 7 ABSTRACT Aswingable type chair is made from arcuate sections which are releasablyunited to be adjustable to a multiplicity of angular positions from theone for sitting and swinging. The sections are hung on aligned pivotssupported on pedestals at each side of a circular or oval base so as tobe oscillatable to swing back and forth on the pivots. The chair can bechanged from a normal seating configuration to a reclining configurationand to an elongated bed-type configuration.

10 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTED JUL 2 91975 SHEET CONVERTIBLESWINGABLE CHAIR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Oscillatable chairs areusually of the rockable type with arcuate rockers directly engaging thefloor or a base or can be hung on four links to move backwardly andforwardly as a swing. The swingable chair of the present invention isbelieved novel not only because of its swinging on an are but because itcan be used as a chaise lounge or a bed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The base of the present invention has a bottomportion of cylindrical or oval shape with two upstanding pedestalshaving aligned pivots on their upper ends. Three sections are providedfor the chair, a central seating section which may be semi-spherical andend sections which may be a leg and back section which mates with thesemi-spherical shape of the central section. The upper ends of thesections are aligned on the pivots for individual swinging movement.Locking means are provided at the upper ends of the section by whichsome or all of the sections may be locked together so as to swing as aunit. One of the end sections may be lowered to rest upon the bottomportion of the base to obtain a chaise lounge effect with the other endsection and when all three sections are pivoted together at the bottomthe upper portions of the end sections may be released and moveddownwardly into horizontal alignment with the central section in bedposition. While it is noted that the sections are substantially ofsemi-circular cross section, it is to be understood that they may have acentral flat portion of substantial length to which hinges may bedirectly applied which permit the upper free ends of the leg and backsections to hinge upwardly into aligned locked relation with the upperend of the central section which is pivoted to the pedestals. The baseis preferably mounted on ball rol lers to permit the chair to be rotatedto any position on shag rugs and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a chairof the swingable type embodying features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the chair illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view of structure, similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1,showing another form of swingable chair;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a broken end view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view of structure, similar to that illustrated in FIG. 5,showing a further form of the invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the structure illustratedin FIG. 3, taken on the line 7-7;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the structure illustratedin FIG. 3, taken on the line 88 thereof; and

FIG. 9 is a view of the chair unit illustrated in FIG. 1 in the positionassumed when occupied.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, achair 11 is illustrated embodying a base 12 and a chair unit comprisinga seating section 13, a leg section 14 and a back section 15. The base12 has a bottom circular portion 16 with two upstanding pedestals 17disposed opposite to each other. The pedestals 17 are provided withaligned pivots 18 on which the upstanding portions of the three sectionsof the chair unit are pivotally supported. The pivots have locking means19 (not shown in detail) by which the three sections 13, 14 and 15 arelocked in unit relation for pivotal movement on the pivots 18. Thesections can be released so that the leg and back sections 14 and 15 maybe swung downwardly to abut each other in aligned horizontal positioncapable of being used as a bed or cradle which rests on the bottomportion of the base. When the sections l3, l4 and 15 are in lockedrelation, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a person wishing to occupy the chairmoves the section 14 downwardly and sits thereon and on the centralsection 13 while the section 15 extends upwardly in back position. Withthis arrangement, the chair may be swung on the pivots 18 forwardly andbackwardly in the conventional manner. The back section 15 may bereleased and swung downwardly to form a chaise lounge relationship withthe sections 13 and 14. The base portion 16 is mounted on ball rollers21 which are preferably of the angle type so as to rotate freely uponshag rugs and the like.

A similar type of chair is illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 8 inclusive, onehaving a similar base 12 comprising a body portion 22 which may be ofcircular or oval shape from which oppositely disposed pedestals 23extend upwardly. The swingable unit of the chair embodies a centralsection 24 and end sections 25. All three of the sections aresemi-circular in cross section being made of plywood bent to theselected cross-sectional form. The sections are secured together at thebottom by hinged elements 26, 27 and 28 which are riveted or otherwisesecured to the sections on a central line between the pedestals. Thesections 25 have the upwardly extending portions aligned with the edgesof the upwardly extending portion of the section 24 and are lockedtogether by a locking mechanism 31.

The mechanism 31 embodies an inverted channel section 32 which extendsover the top edges of the central section 24 having laterally extendingarms 33 which have outwardly deflected ends 34. The outer portion of theinverted channel element 32 has a spring element 34 secured thereto, asby welding at 35, to permit the ends to move outwardly as the upper endsof the sections 25 are moved into engagement with the upper ends of thecentral section 24. Knobs 36 are secured to the ends of the springelement 34 having a latching detent 37 on the inner side which isengaged by a plate 38 secured to the outer top edge of the upper ends ofthe sections 25. This moves the ends of the spring element 34 outwardlyas they pass over the detents 37 into locked position therewith with theupstanding ends of the sections in aligned relationship, as clearlyillustrated in FIG. 8. The channel element 32 is secured to the tops ofthe central section 34 by screws 39. The bottom 22 of the supportingbase 12 has a reinforcing member 41 thereon to which a plurality of ballrollers 42 are mounted to permit the base and chair to be rotated.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, when the two sections 25 are released from thelatching mechanism 31 to hinge downwardly into horizontal alignment withthe central section 24, the two sections 25 will rest upon the bottom 22of the base 12 and the portions of the pedestals 23 adjacent thereto soas to be in non-swingable bed relationship on the base. By moving one ofthe sections 25 upwardly into latched relation, a chaise loungeconfiguration is provided which is not swingable as the one section 25rests upon the base 22. When both of the sections 25 are in latchedrelation, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the chair may be swung upon pivots43 which supports the central section 24 on the top portion of thepedestals 17. The pivot 43, as illustrated more specifically in FIG. 7,has a head 45, an enlarged portion 46, a reduced threaded portion 47 anda cap nut 48 on a threaded end. A washer 49 abuts the shoulder betweenthe portions 46 and 47 so that the cap nut can be tightened whilepermitting free oscillation of the central section 24 on the enlargedportions 46 of the pivots. The chair, as illustrated in FIG. 5, has theedge 51 of either section 25 extending upwardly from the bottom 22 ofthe base 12 which permits the chair to be occupied from either side.This requires the moving of the edge 51 downwardly so as to form a seatadjacent to the bottom 22 which can be occupied. When seated, the chairwill move to the position illustrated in FIG. 3 and backwardly thereofand continue to swing if pushed backwardly by the feet of the occupant.Since the chair can be occupied from either side, one side may face afireplace and a seating group and also face outwardly into the room anda seating area therein. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the sections 24 and 25may have a flat central bottom portion 52 which are joined together byelongated hinges 53 which may provide more comfort in seating, recliningand bed positions, otherwise, such a chair would be of the sameconstruction as that described hereinabove.

I claim:

1. In a swingable chair, a base having a continuous band forming abottom supporting portion from which two upstanding oppositely disposedpedestals extend, a chair unit made of a central and two end sections ofU- shape having a central portion and oppositely disposed upstandingarms located between said pedestals, and a pair of pivots for securingthe arms of said sections together and to the upper portion of saidpedestals.

2. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 1, wherein two of the threechair sections are releasable from said pedestals to permit a bedconfiguration to be formed with the central section supported on saidpedestals and with the two outer sections resting directly upon thebottom supporting portion.

3. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 2, wherein the release ofonly one of the end sections to rest directly on the bottom supportingportion produces a chaise lounge configuration with the other twosections which are supported on the pivot on each said pedestal.

4. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 1, wherein the threesections are similar, and hinge means for securing the sections togetheralong the bottom abutting edges while said arm portions of each sectionare secured together and pivoted at the top to said pedestals.

5. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 4, wherein the centralsection only is secured by the pivots in swingable relation on thepedestals.

6. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 5, wherein locking means areprovided on the top portion of the central section above the pivotthereof, and latch means on said securing means which locks the top sideportions of the sections in unit relationship.

7. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 6, wherein the securingmeans has oppositely disposed channel portions which receives the topside portions of the end sections to have them aligned with the edges ofthe central section.

8. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 1, wherein the base has abottom portion of circular configuration with the upstanding pedestalsof arcuate form following the circular form of the base.

9. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 8, wherein a reinforcingmember is provided within the bottom portion of the base, and casterssupported by said reinforcing member.

10. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 6, wherein the release ofeither of the end sections of the chair and its movement into engagementwith the bottom supporting portion of the base produces a chaise loungeconfiguration which is changed to a bed configuration when both of theend sections rest upon opposite sides of the bottom supporting portionof the base in aligned relation to each other and the central sectionwhich remains pivoted to the pedestals.

1. In a swingable chair, a base having a continuous band forming abottom supporting portion from which two upstanding oppositely disposedpedestals extend, a chair unit made of a central and two end sections ofU-shape having a central portion and oppositely disposed upstanding armslocated between said pedestals, and a pair of pivots for securing thearms of said sections together and to the upper portion of saidpedestals.
 2. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 1, wherein two ofthe three chair sections are releasable from said pedestals to permit abed configuration to be formed with the central section supported onsaid pedestals and with the two outer sections resting directly upon thebottom supporting portion.
 3. In a swingable chair as recited in claim2, wherein the release of only one of the end sections to rest directlyon the bottom supporting portion produces a chaise lounge configurationwith the other two sections which are supported on the pivot on eachsaid pedestal.
 4. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 1, whereinthe three sections are similar, and hinge means for securing thesections together along the bottom abutting edges while said armportions of each section are secured together and pivoted at the top tosaid pedestals.
 5. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 4, whereinthe central section only is secured by the pivots in swingable relationon the pedestals.
 6. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 5, whereinlocking means are provided on the top portion of the central sectionabove the pivot thereof, and latch means on said securing means whichlocks the top side portions of the sections in unit relationship.
 7. Ina swingable chair as recited in claim 6, wherein the securing means hasoppositely disposed channel portions which receives the top sideportions of the end sections to have them aligned with the edges of thecentral section.
 8. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 1, whereinthe base has a bottom portion of circular configuration with theupstanding pedestals of arcuate form following the circular form of thebase.
 9. In a swingable chair as recited in claim 8, wherein areinforcing member is provided within the bottom portion of the base,and casters supported by said reinforcing member.
 10. In a swingablechair as recited in claim 6, wherein the release of eiTher of the endsections of the chair and its movement into engagement with the bottomsupporting portion of the base produces a chaise lounge configurationwhich is changed to a bed configuration when both of the end sectionsrest upon opposite sides of the bottom supporting portion of the base inaligned relation to each other and the central section which remainspivoted to the pedestals.